Sheet-music-turning device.



L. B. CHAMBERS. I SHEET MUSIC TURNING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY8, 1912.

1,079,838, Patented Nov. 25, 1913.

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CDLUMBIA PLANDGRAPH (10., WASHINGTON. D. c.

L. B. CHAMBERS.

SHEET MUSIC TURNING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8, 1912.

1,079,838,- Patented Nov. 25, 1913.

3 SHEETSSHBET 2.

COLUMBIA l =L/\NDGRAFH C0..WASH1NOTON, D. c.

LIB. CHAMBERS.

SHEET MUSIC TURNINGDEVICE.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 8, 1912.

Patented Nov. 25, 1913.

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COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH COUWASHHINXTON, D. r

LINCOLN B. CHAMBERS, 0F FORT COLUMBIA, WASHINGTON.

SHEET-MUSIC-TURNING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 25, 1913.

Application filed May 8, 1912. Serial No. 695,979.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LINCOLN B. CHAM- nnns, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fort Columbia, in the county of Pacific and State of Washington, have invented new and useful Improvements in Sheet- Music-Turning Devices, of which the .following is a specification.

An object of the invention is to provide a device for automatically turning the leaves of sheet music.

The invention embodies, among other features, a plurality of sheet turning members mounted to turn the leaves of a sheet of music and operated by a motor, a controlling mechanism being provided for controlling the movement of the said sheet turning mechanism.

In the further disclosure of the invention reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings constituting a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference denote corresponding. parts in all the views, and in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of my device showing the same applied to a piano; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged front elevation showing the turning members; Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view of the device showing the operating mechanism thereof, parts being broken away; Fig. 4 is a plan View of the casing for the springs, a fragmentary portion of the releasing member being also shown in plan; Fig. 5 is a plan view of the springs, a portion of the casing being broken away to disclose the underlying structure; Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the casing for the springs; Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the locking member; Fig. 8 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view showing the two positions of the locking member; Fig. 9 is a plan view of one of the sheet turning members; Fig. 10 is'a plan view of the other sheet turning member; and Fig. 11 is a plan view of the sheet turning members showing the same in connected position, with one of the members slightly swung outwardly from its normal position.

Referring more particularly to the views, use is made of a U-shaped casing 10 for attachment to a piano 11, the said casing being preferably constructed in sections connected in any suitable manner With the upper end of the casing terminating adjacent the sheet music supporting rack 12 of the piano 11, and the lower end of the casing terminating adjacent the usual foot-pedals 1-3 of the piano.

A foot-pedal 14L is mounted to swing with- 1n the casing 10 and extends exteriorly from the lower end of the casing, a rod 15 being pivotally connected to the foot-pedal 14L and to a lever 16 of the bell crank type, the mentioned lever 16 being mounted within the casing 10 and having pivotally connected thereto a vertically extending rod 17 pivotally connected to a dog 18 mounted to swing in the casing 10 and engaged by an expansible spring 19, the free end of the dog 18 being in engagement with a plate 20 provided with a plurality of notches 21, the said plate being pivotally connected to a rod 22 horizontally mounted to slide in guides 23 in the upper end of the casing 10, the free end of the said rod being bent upwardly to form a releasing member 24: having the upper end thereof bent laterally, the said rod being engaged by a contractile spring 25 secured to the upwardly extending portion of the rod 22, a suitable slot being provided in the casing and through which the releasing member 24 is adapted to extend to permit the releasing member to be operated when the rod 22 is operated.

A casing 27 is provided with a cover 28 having a plurality of semi-circular slots 29, 30 formed therein, a plurality of springs 31, 32 being mounted within the casing 27, pins 33, 34L being secured to the ends of the respective springs 31, 32 and extending upwardly through the slots 29, 30, respectively. A shaft 35 is mounted to extend upwardly through the casing 27 and mounted to swing on the upper end of the shaft are a plurality of turning members 36, 37, the turning member 37 being superimposed on the turning member 36 with the pin 33 extended through a slot 38 in the turning member 36 and through an opening 39 in the turning member 37, the pin 34: being extended upwardly to pass through an opening 40 formed in the lower turning member 36 so that when the spring 31 is operated the turning member 37 will be actuated independently of the turning member 36, the turning member 36 being adapted to operate when the spring 30 is actuated, the pins 33, 34 being arranged to extend upwardly through the slots 29, 30 respectively, in the cover 28 of the casing 27, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The turning members 36, 37 have secured thereto vertically extending plates 41, 42, and mounted to swing on the plates 41, 42 are fingers 43, 44, the said fingers being adapted to lie behind the sheets of music that are to be turned, so that when the spring 31 is operated to operate the turning member 37, the fingers 44 of the turning member 37 pressing against the rear side of the sheet of music will. turn the same, the next sheet of music being turned by the fingers of the turning member 36.

By referring to Figs. 3 and 4 it will be seen that the releasing member 24 normally extends across the slots 29, 30 of the casing 27 to hold the turning members 36, 37 in normal position, the pins 33, 34 connected with the respective turning members 36, 37 being adapted to engage the releasing member 24 as shown in Fig. 4. A locking member 45 is mounted to extend into the upper end of the casing 10 and comprises a shank 46, turnably mounted in the casing, and the said shank terminates at one end in a handle 47 and at the other end in a laterally extending head 48, a helical spring 49 being mounted to encircle the shank 46 with an end of the spring secured to the shank and the other end of the spring secured to the casing 10.

By referring to Figs. 3, 4 and 8 it will be seen that when the turning members 36, 37 are held in normal position by the releasing member 24 as mentioned heretofore, the head 48 of the locking member 45 will extend vertically with a side of the head abutting against the vertical portion of the releasing member 24 and held in this position by the helical spring 49. Vhen the footpedal 14 is pressed downwardly, the dog 18, through the medium of the levers 15, 1G and 17, will move the rod 22 toward the right, thus moving the releasing member 24 out of engagement with the pin 33, thus releasing the spring 31 so that the action of the spring in unwinding will swing the turning member 37 on the shaft 35 and turn the first sheet of music, the fingers 44 of the turning member having been previously placed behind the first sheet of music as mentioned heretofore. At the moment the rod 22 is moved toward the right, the action of the spring 49 will swing the head of the locking member into horizontal position with the edge of the head abutting against the vertical portion of the releasing member 24, thus preventing the spring 25 from pushing the rod 22 back to normal position when the pressure is released on the foot-pedal 14 and in consequence thereof the dog 18, acted upon by the spring 19, will engage the inner notch 21 of the plate 20, it being understood that the head 43 of the locking member 45 prevents the foot operating mechanism from returning to normal position, thus preventing the releasing member 24 from returning to normal position. Now when it is desired to turn the second sheet of music, the foot-pedal 14 is pressed downwardly again and the dog 13 will thus be operated to impart a right-hand movement to the rod 22, thus moving the releasing member 24 out of engagement with the pin 34. The spring 32 to which the pin 34 is secured will now be released and in 1111- winding will turn the second turning member 36, thus also turning the second sheet of music, the fingers 43 of the turning member 36 being arranged behind the second sheet of music, as has been mentioned heretofore.

When it is desired to return the turning members to normal position, the turning members are grasped and swung toward the right, the releasing member 24 being moved slightly toward the right to permit of first returning the turning member 36 to normal position, after which the releasing member 24 is permitted to move toward the left a slight distance, thus securing the turning member 36 in normal position, the turning member 37 being then swung into normal position, after which the handle 47 of the locking member 45 is grasped and the locking member is turned toward the left, thus causing the releasing member 24 to pass beyond the pin 33 of the turning member 37 and securing the turning member in normal position.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that an efficient, durable and easily operable device is provided for turning the leaves of sheet music and it will be readily understood that by simply duplicating various parts of the device, the same can be adjusted to turn more than two leaves of sheet music, only two turning members being disclosed in the drawings for the purpose of simplifying the invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a music turning device, the combination with a casing for attachment to a musical instrument, of a plurality of turn ing members, means on the said casing for independently operating the said turning members, a releasing member for independently releasing the said turning members, means for actuating the said releasing member, and a spring-actuated locking member mounted to turn on the casing and including an integral laterally extending head adapted to engage the said releasing member to limit the movement thereof.

2. In a music turning device, the combination with a casing for attachment to a nusical instrument, of a plurality of turning members, means supported on the casing for operating the said turning members, a foot pedal mounted to swing on the casing,

a releasing member for independently reengage the releasing member and limit the leasing the said turning members, a connecmovement thereof. tion between the said foot pedal and the said In testimony whereof I afiix my signature releasing member for actuating the same to in presence of two witnesses.

release the turning members, a spring-en LINCOLN B. CHAMBERS. gaged locking member mounted to turn on Witnesses:

the said casing, and a head formed with the GEO. HIBBERT,

locking member and projecting therefrom to W. E. CLANGY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

